Maybe He Should Read The Whole Paper
David Ignatius, a guy at the Washington Post I love to bash, should start reading advance copies of his paper before submitting his editorial pieces.
I say this, because in writing his "After the Bombs, Politics" column he obviously didn't see the "Hezbollah Balks At Withdraw" article that ended up on the front page of the same paper.
Ignatius, like many folks who believe terrorist groups can be dealt with through diplomacy, is confused by the fact that Hezbollah and Hamas have become involved in politics.
Neither group got into politics as a way to get out of terrorism, but instead as a way to try and show some legitimacy of their cause, and have an "in" with the governments they hold hostage through their acts.
While Hezbollah's political wing said all the right things to get a cease fire in place, they've immediately balked at the requirements of the same cease-fire. In this case, the call for their disarmament and withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
It will be interesting to see how Israel reacts to the idea that the Hezbollah fighters will pull back and disarm, but only if the Lebanese agree not to look into the bunkers where their weapons caches are in the south.
The UN reaction will be predictable, they'll claim it's a great diplomatic victory. The truth is it shows another failing of the group. They'll once again acquiesce to the terrorists, and allow them to keep the guns that aren't in plain sight, and in a few months wonder why Hezbollah guerrillas are once again infiltrating Israel.
Ignatius and his ilk want to believe, despite years of evidence, that everything is solvable through negotiation. They ignore the history of such follies over just the last century. Chamberlain and the French decided if they allowed Germany to go into the low countries and ignored them, they'd stop. The communists were great at putting up a diplomatic front at the UN, while their tanks rolled over disenters in eastern Europe. Kim Il Jong continued to develop nuclear weapons while robbing the west of oil, technology, and food.
With all the empiracle evidence that negotiation don't work with terrorist states or groups, men like Ignatius still hold to the belief that it's the way out of every problem. Alcoholic's Anonymous preaches to people that insanity is when you keep doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result. Ignatius and the folks who think every terrorist problem has a diplomatic solution should probably start their own twelve step group for people addicted to failed policies.
Trackback at Basil's Blog, where you can also ask questions for my interview.
Technorati Tags: David Ignatius, Washington Post, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Diplomacy, Politics, 12 Steps
I say this, because in writing his "After the Bombs, Politics" column he obviously didn't see the "Hezbollah Balks At Withdraw" article that ended up on the front page of the same paper.
Ignatius, like many folks who believe terrorist groups can be dealt with through diplomacy, is confused by the fact that Hezbollah and Hamas have become involved in politics.
Neither group got into politics as a way to get out of terrorism, but instead as a way to try and show some legitimacy of their cause, and have an "in" with the governments they hold hostage through their acts.
While Hezbollah's political wing said all the right things to get a cease fire in place, they've immediately balked at the requirements of the same cease-fire. In this case, the call for their disarmament and withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
It will be interesting to see how Israel reacts to the idea that the Hezbollah fighters will pull back and disarm, but only if the Lebanese agree not to look into the bunkers where their weapons caches are in the south.
The UN reaction will be predictable, they'll claim it's a great diplomatic victory. The truth is it shows another failing of the group. They'll once again acquiesce to the terrorists, and allow them to keep the guns that aren't in plain sight, and in a few months wonder why Hezbollah guerrillas are once again infiltrating Israel.
Ignatius and his ilk want to believe, despite years of evidence, that everything is solvable through negotiation. They ignore the history of such follies over just the last century. Chamberlain and the French decided if they allowed Germany to go into the low countries and ignored them, they'd stop. The communists were great at putting up a diplomatic front at the UN, while their tanks rolled over disenters in eastern Europe. Kim Il Jong continued to develop nuclear weapons while robbing the west of oil, technology, and food.
With all the empiracle evidence that negotiation don't work with terrorist states or groups, men like Ignatius still hold to the belief that it's the way out of every problem. Alcoholic's Anonymous preaches to people that insanity is when you keep doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result. Ignatius and the folks who think every terrorist problem has a diplomatic solution should probably start their own twelve step group for people addicted to failed policies.
Trackback at Basil's Blog, where you can also ask questions for my interview.
Technorati Tags: David Ignatius, Washington Post, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Diplomacy, Politics, 12 Steps
posted by Crazy Politico at 5:13 AM
3Comments:
LOVED the comparison and the definition of insanity. So true.
ITA. The U.N. is addicted to stupidity.
This war is restarted before it ever ended. The UN is not a has been, it is a never-should-have-been.
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